Plural gas mains for independently operating low and high burners in alternative flue

ABSTRACT

A GROUP OF HEATING GAS BURNERS IS DESPOSED IN THE LOWER ENDS OF THE VERTICAL HEATING FLUES BETWEEN THE OVEN CHAMBERS IN A ROW OF COKE OVENS. ANOTHER GROUP OF HEATING GAS BURNERS IS DISPOSED IN THE SAME FLUES AT A HIGHER LEVEL THAN THE FIRST GROUP. CONNECTED TO EACH OF THE GROUPS OF BURNERS IS A HEATING GAS DISTRIBUTION CONDUIT WITH ITS OWN PRESSURE CONTROL VALVE, SO THAT THE PRESSURE OF THE GAS SUPPLIED TO ONE OF THE GROUPS OF BURNERS CAN BE REGULATED INDEPENDENTLY OF THE PRESSURE OF THE GAS SUPPLIED TO THE OTHER GROUP OF BURNERS.

May 1, 1973 E. E, PME@ FT AL 3,730,847

PLURAL GAS MAINS FOn INDEPENDENTLY OPERATING LOW AND HIGH BURNERS IN ALTERNATIVE FLUE Filed Deo. '7. 1970 .v Av

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ATTORNEYS United States Patent C) PLURAL GAS MAINS FOR INDEPENDENTLY OPERATING LOW AND HIGH BURNERS IN ALTERNATIVE FLUE Eriche E. Pries and Rolf Rossow, Bochum, Germany, as-

sgnors to Dr. C. Otto & Comp. G.m.b.H., Bochum, Germany Filed Dec. 7, 1970, Ser. No. 95,613 Int. Cl. Cb 5/12 U.S. Cl. 202-139 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A group of heating gas burners is disposed in the lower ends of the vertical heating flues between the oven chambers in a row of coke ovens. Another group of heating gas burners is disposed in the same liues at a higher level than the lirst group. Connected to each of the groups of burners is a heating gas distribution conduit with its own pressure control valve, so that the pressure of the gas supplied to one of the groups of burners can be regulated independently of the pressure of the gas supplied to the other group of burners.

The burners in the heating lines of coke ovens must be so adjusted that the walls separating the oven chambers from the heating chambers are heated as evenly as possible over their full height, so that the contents of the oven chambers are also heated evenly. This prevents some portions of the oven chamber charge from being fully degassed before the coking process is finished in other portions. It is also important that the space above the coal in the coke oven chambers not reach too high a temperature, to prevent dissociation of Valuable compounds contained in the gas collected in that space.

It should be noted that gases which contain a relatively large amount of nitrogen burn relatively slowly so that the llames extend over large areas but are of low intensity, and gases with a large amount of hydrogen burn fast with short llames and at high temperatures.

In order to obtain even heating of the oven chambers, which may have a height of 20 to 25 feet, it is customary to provide for each heating 'flue several burners that have outlets at dilerent levels. It then becomes possible to control the heating intensity at different levels of the oven chambers by controlling the admission of heating gas to the various burners. By regulating the amount of gas admitted to the burners, it is accordingly possible to maintain the walls of the oven chambers at even temperatures and also to properly adjust the temperature in the gas collecting space in the top of the oven chambers.

The amount and way of heating, however, is also dependent on the kind of coal used for the coking process. Whenever the kind of coal is changed, a change in the way of heating becomes necessary. There also are many other factors that may make a change in the way of heating necessary. It does happen frequently that a fast change in the way of heating is desirable.

The so-called underburner type oven permits exact adjustment of the gas admitted to each of the various burners. In this type of oven there is provided a heating gas distribution conduit that extends along the series of ovens and from which admission pipes branch olf and eX- tend through the basement of the oven structure and lead to the various heating walls. From these admission pipes vertical channels extend upward to the burners in the heating tlues. The branch conduit to each of the burners is normally provided with a jet which is adjustable and disposed in the basement area where it is easily accessible, so that the amount of gas admitted to the burners can be adjusted properly.

3,730,847 Patented May 1, 1973 Furthermore, there are provided in the admission pipes branching oli the heating gas distribution conduit switchover valves operated by rods extending alongside the distribution conduit. The rods are adapted during switchover of the regenerators to close one set of valves associated with the pipes leading to all of the burners in one set of heating lines, while opening the valves associated with the pipes leading to all of the burners in the other set of heating flues. There also are shut-ods and control valves permitting adjustment of the amount of gas admitted to the branch pipes and the burners supplied by them.

The upper and lower burners of each heating wall may be connected to separate admission pipes having control valves associated therewith. This permits adjustment of the relative amounts of gas admitted to the upper and lower burners of a heating wall, but it requires the jets metering the gas for the burners to be adjusted. This kind of work is very time-consuming and may take several days. Even if the admission pipes have separate control Valves for the upper and lower burners in a heating flue, adjustment of the burners would still be quite time-consuming in ovens with a large number of serially arranged oven chambers and, furthermore, the result depends to a great extent on the accuracy with which the various Valves are adjusted.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, showing a vertical transverse section through a coke oven, partly through a coking chamber and partly through a heating chamber between coking chambers.

It is the principal object of th-e present invention to provide a coke oven of the type discussed above, in which the heating intensity of the upper and lower burners disposed in the heating chambers can be adjusted separately and very quickly and in a very simple manner.

Referring to the drawing, a single coke oven chamber 1, which is one in a row or series of laterally spaced coking chambers, is shown in longitudinal section. It is closed at both ends by doors 2 and has a ceiling or roof 3 provided with charging openings 4. The roof also is provided with an outlet passage 5, through which the coke oven ygas formed during-the coking process is removed from the gas collection space 6 above the coke 7. Outlet 5 leads to a duct, by which the gas is conducted away. At each end of the oven chamber there is the usual operating platform 8. This coke oven is a by-product oven or underburner type. It has a basement 9 beneath the superstructure. The basement contains pipes that conduct heating gas for heating the oven chambers.

The oven chambers 1 are separated one from the other by the usual heating chamber, each of which is divided by transverse vertical Walls 11 into vertical llues 12 and 13 that alternate with one another. The side walls of the coking chambers form the side walls of the heating chambers. While heating gases are entering the heating chambers through dues 12, they are leaving the chambers through flues 13. That is, while combustion is taking place in tlues 12, the combustion gases leave the heating chambers through lues 13. The llow through the flues is reversed with each change of the :regenerating cycle. The regenerators 14 are beneath the oven chambers, between them and the basement of the coke oven. The regenerators preheat the combustion air, which is admitted to them through bottom 'llues 15. Also, through the bottom ues and valves 16 the combustion gases are removed from the regenerators and conducted into the draft flue 17.

Disposed in each vertical heating flue i12 is a lower burner 18 and an upper burner 19, while each llue 13 is provided with a lower burner 21 and an upper burner 22. All of these burners are connected by gas passages 23,

extending downwardly within the regenerator walls, with branch pipes 24 that connect them with supply pipes located in the basement. There are four of these supply pipes 25, 26, 27 and 28, and some of the branch pipes are connected to each one.

According to this invention, heating gas is supplied to the four horizontal supply pipes from two distribution conduits 31 and 32., which extend along opposite sides of the row of ovens. Two of these pipes are connected to each conduit, pipes 25 and 26 being connected to conduit 31, and pipes 27 and 28 to conduit 32. The four pipes are connected to the two conduits through closure valves 33 and switching valves 34. Supply pipes 25 and 26 are connected with the lower burners 18 and 21, respectively. Likewise, supply pipes 27 and 28 are connected with the upper burners 22 and 19, respectively. During each heating cycle, only the burners in one set of lues are in operation; such, for example, as burners 18 and 19 in flues 12. These are supplied with heating gas from pipes 25 and 28. During the next cycle, only the burners in the other set of dues are in operation. They are supplied from pipes 26 and 27.

It will be noted that the supply pipes connected to distribution conduit 31 feed the lower burners, while the pipes connected to the other distribution conduit supply the upper burners. Consequently, the gas pressure in each of the distribution conduits directly affects the amount of gas supplied to the group of burners connected with that conduit, either the lower burners or the upper burners, as the case may be. It is therefore possible to adjust the heating zones in all of the heating flues by merely changing the gas pressures in the distribution conduits 31 and 32. by means of pressure control valves 36 and 37, respectively. The heating zones of all of the ovens can be lowerd, for example, by increasing the gas pressure in conduit 311 and reducing the pressure in conduit 32 in accordance with requirements during operation of the coke ovens. The control of admission of gas to the individual supply pipes is elected by means of the usual control valves.

It also is common practice to provide the branch pipes 24 that lead from the horizontal supply pipes to the vertical passage 23 with additional control valves that can be reached from the basement to control in a simple manner the admission of gas to the various burners in the different heating chambers. This permits different degrees of heating, which may be necessary because of dilerent cross-sectional areas of oven chambers or because of emission of heat to the environment at the end walls of the row of ovens, for example.

There are usually only two groups of burners, one at the bottom and the other at a higher level in the heating flues as shown, but for very high ovens it may be desirable to provide more than two groups of burners, each additional group being disposed at a diiferent level and connected to another distribution conduit so that the pressure of the gas supplied to the various groups can be adjusted independently of each other.

This invention is not limited to the type of ovens described herein, but is applicable to other types also; for example, ovens in which the heating chambers disposed at opposite sides of an oven chamber are in communication through channels extending over the coking chambers. The heating chambers are heated alternately. Neither is the invention limited to coke ovens in which the heating gas is admitted to the burners through conduits and pipes located in a basement below the ovens.

With the present invention it is also possible to use different types of heating gases for the lower and upper burners. Such gases may be, for example, gases generated in a generator similar to water gas, purified coke oven gas, or the different types of residual gases produced in chemical processes. Also, natural gas or gases derived therefrom, or gases obtained during the distillation of oil may be used. By using different types of gases and dilTerent gas distribution conduits for them, there are provided even better possibilities for varying the ways in which the ovens are heated and, especially, to vary the intensity with which heat is produced at the lower and upper portions of the coke chambers.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes, we have explained the principle of our invention and have illustrated and described what we now consider to represent its best embodiment. However, we desire to have it understood that, within the scope of the appended claim, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

We claim:

1. ln a coke oven provided with a row of laterally spaced oven chambers and with a row of heating chambers disposed between and alternating with the coke oven chambers, each heating chamber being divided into a. plurality of heating ilues, a gas burner disposed in the lower end of each flue, and a gas burner disposed in each flue at a higher level than the other burner therein; the improvement comprising a first pair and a second pair of gas supply pipes for each heating chamber, switching valve means for each pair of supply pipes, a rst heating gas distribution conduit connected to all of the lirst pairs of supply pipes, a second gas heating distribution conduit connected to all of the second pairs of supply pipes, means connecting the lower burners in alternate flues of each heating chamber with one of the supply pipes in a lirst pair, means connecting the remaining lower burners in the same heating chamber with the other supply pipe in the same first pair, means connecting the upper burners in said alternate ilues of each heating chamber with one of the supply pipes in a second pair, means connecting the remaining upper burners in said heating chamber with the other supply pipe in the same second pair, and ya separate pressure control valve for each of said distribution conduits, whereby the pressure of the gas supplied to al1 of the rst pairs of supply pipes can be regulated independently of the pressure of the gas supplied to all of the second pairs of supply pipes.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,373,087 3/1968 Van Ackeren 202--139 X 3,123,540 3/1964 Van Ackeren 202-139 X 3,494,833 2/1970 Grumm 201-41 NORMAN YUDKOFF, Primary Examiner D. EDWARDS, Assistant Examiner 

